Nothingness.

An absolute void met Sin’s eyes. Or, well, she didn’t exactly have eyes in this state. Sin tried to scream for help, to no avail. The lack of body parts was really getting to her. If she could, Sin would have a word with the manager here.

“#’;[#//]’]@{}?”

Sin’s mind felt like it was being ripped apart and put together again.

“.......................-AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH... oh!” She could hear herself now.

Sin checked. Her body was there. And fully naked. Instinctively, she covered herself.

Clothes matching what she was previously wearing instantly manifested on her body.

“Phew.”

“>:@:{@;[]};,,??”

Sin gripped her head tight as the shrieking sounds coming from the void pierced her ears.

A disapproving groaning sound came from the void.

All of a sudden, Sin’s mind became overloaded. It was gaining new information at a rate that she’d previously never even considered a possibility. It wasn’t exactly painful, but she could feel her mind being stimulated at a very fast pace. This must be the language download that Rai mentioned at the last second. Now it makes sense. I thought he’d tell me everything ahead of time but we’re here now.

After a moment, all of the pains that she’d felt previously were practically wiped away.

A voice came from the emptiness.

“Testing. Testing. Hello?”

Sin looked into the distant pitch blackness.

“HELLO?!”

A different voice spoke this time.

“Bats to the bone! Don’t scream like that!”

Sin covered her mouth, “Oh! Sorry.”

“Jingle the keys, this one’s strong ain’t she?”

“Aye. That she is.”

“Who’s taking her then?”

“Well, whose spell did she use?”

“Too many possibilities, das why she’s ere wit’ us.”

All of the voices were different.

Sin raised a timid questioning finger at the void, “Um. Hi.” She all of a sudden felt unseen eyes shift their focus unto her, “I’m Sindyl. Nice to meet you voices in the void. Uhm. I’m very confused about what’s happening right now.”

“Jus’ keep yer’ gob shut will ye. We’re in the midst of decidin’ ‘at now.”

“Right right right. I’ll do that.”

Sin shut her mouth tight as she sat down on the empty void.

“You don’t know whose spell she used? You’re supposed to be the one that knows all.”

“Yeah yeah, I only got that title for beating a gamemaster, they shoved me in here and now this profile’s all that’s left.”

“How does your profile not know? Weren’t you given the knowledge regardless?”

“Who fookin’ cares ‘bout that bollocks. Jus’ find the Queen’s profile and send the brat tae ‘er.”

“You want to wake the Queen for this? Do you want to die?”

“We’re already dead ye gobshite. Yer all fookin mongs, the lotta ya. Sinwhateverhernameis over der’ has the same ol’ shite as the Queen anyway! ‘Tis prolly her spell regardless.”

Even though Sin couldn’t see the figures of the voices, she felt the ethereal approval of the other presences at the last voice’s words.

“You raise a good point... Send her to the Queen.”

All of a sudden, Sin felt like she was being whooshed away. Air that wasn’t entirely air blasted past her face as she did all she could to just stay seated.

She ended up in what looked like the exact same spot once she stopped moving. Though, that was a rather moot observation considering that everything around her was quite literally nothing as far as the eye could see.

Purple flames flickered in the distance. They were shaped like eyes. Well, that’s different, Sin thought.

A dominating female voice boomed in the darkness.

“Really? You must be joking.”

Sin tilted her confused little head at the large flaming eyes.

“What?”

“No no no. They woke me up just to show me that you followed in my steps and not the King’s. Foolish girl.”

“What the fu-...” Probably shouldn’t swear at a queen. “What the fudge are you talking about?”

“Ooh. I could very much do with some fudge right now.”

“Would you care to explain what you’re talking about? Please?”

“You had so many possibilities. Instead of gravity, you could have called for blood, or beneficial auras like the king, or literally anything else!”

Sin clearly wasn’t getting it.

“What?! I’m two steps behind you! Take a few steps back in the process and explain from there because I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

The purple flaming eyes stared through Sin’s ruby-red eyes. Curious. She’s smart and expresses herself well. Why would she choose the route of domination over anything else? The purple eyes flared as they seemingly pondered for a moment.

“You evolved my spell. A spell that your people would probably consider forbidden. At first, it was a spell that you could have evolved in different ways, but then you went and used that spell for domination. You’re the only one who’s done that! Ugh. That’s why you have my marks. Look at your wrists.”

Sin looked at her wrists. Vines in a helix were tattooed on either of her wrists. She looked back up at the flames, “How... does this work?”

The voice made a sound that was something like laughter.

“It’s interesting... of all the people I’ve met in my lifetime, you’re one of the few who acts like they’re my equal. Even asking a question like that while I was alive would’ve gotten you killed.”

Sin didn’t get what it was talking about and she, quite frankly, didn’t really care. She just wanted to know about the important information while she had the time to learn it.

“Yeah yeah, but you’re dead now right? So just tell me how this works.”

“PAHAHAHA! I see that this little girl has a hefty pair. Very audacious. Very well. I will tell you. Your Domain is always active now. None will detect it. You may expand it at will. Within your wrists lays the Queen’s Domain. This is the spell that might be considered Forbidden, in your terms. With it, gravity will be at your command.”

Sin thought about it for a moment. Gravity... I’ve never heard of a mage that can control gravity. Not a single one. She was getting excited, but focused on what was in front of her for the moment, “So, I can activate my Sinful Domain and the runes won’t show up, but when I activate Queen’s Domain, the runes will show up?”

“She continues to treat me as an equal. It’s equal parts astonishing as it is insulting. But... I quite like your gall. Yes. You can consider them to be separate spells. The Domain, however, is always active and will not drain your mana. You will always be aware of what is around you. If you so care to, then you can tune it out with experience as it can be overwhelming.”

Sin couldn’t hide the smile on her face.

“That’s... awesome.”

“Yes... I suppose it is quite... awe-some.”

Sin understood that she’d taken a specific path with her domain, and that that resulted in this outcome... but she was also curious.

“What were the other paths this spell could have taken?”

“The other most powerful path would have been that of the King. The King’s Domain bolsters his troops and empowers them with his own strength that they may charge bravely into battle. I suppose the others are so weak that they’re not really worth mentioning.”

“Really? That’s boring. I think I made the right choice! Even though it wasn’t really a choice, since I didn’t even know I had a choice to begin with. Either way, I like this power!”

“Hahaha! A fine perspective to have. What is your name, little red haired girl?”

“Sindyl Raven.” She opted against touting her title to someone who was quite literally a Queen.

The purple eyes moved in manner that looked like they were laughing.

“I am Queen Tera! Ruler of the sands and forests of Y’ltra! May you be blessed by my magic like no other, ballsy little Raven.”

Sin tilted her head and raised an eyebrow at the flaming eyes, “Y’ltra? I’ve never h-”

The darkness crumbled. Sin felt like she was being flown forward. She flew past the flaming purple eyes.

Tera chuckled, “I’m glad I woke up to meet this one! Let us see if she truly dominates the world in the same fashion as I.” Deep, maniacal, laughter faded away in the distance behind Sin.

Sin gasped for air. She was in a panic. Sweat flew off of her forehead as she flew up from her laid down position. She looked around frantically.

Rai was laying back on the chair. Naam was sat back on another chair beside Rai.

Lilly’s voice came from beside her, “Are you alright now Sin?”

Rai and Naam groggily woke up from their slumbers. Rai noticed that Sin was awake.

“You... did it. Well done.”

Sin took a moment to breathe.

Lilly handed her a cup of water.

Sin gladly took it and downed the cup almost instantly.

Lilly’s eyes widened in surprise. She refilled the cup.

Naam rubbed her eyes. “Sin, what the fuck happened downstairs?”

Sin looked around properly. They were in the penthouse. Sin looked down. My wrists!

The vine tattoos were still there.

Naam looked at them as she sat up in her seat. “I noticed them when we found you and Rai... how did you get tattoos that quickly?”

Sin shook her head.

Rai put a hand on Naam’s shoulder. “Give her a minute.”

Naam nodded at him and sat back.

Lilly kept refilling the cup as Sin kept devouring the water. At this point, she’d made a game of it. How many cups can Sin drink? If she has more than five... then she’ll have beaten my record! I can’t let that happen as her big sister! What a bad example I would be! Lilly resolved herself to beat her own record.

Sin devoured the fourth cup of water and set it down on the table. Lilly let out a sigh of relief.

Sin looked between the three of them. “You lot first. What happened after I fell unconscious?”

Rai sighed. “Alright. I’ll explain.”

Naam shivered as she thought back to what happened. “I’d rather you do it than me.”

Lilly quietly started drinking cups of water.